Bill's Bites -- 2006.09.19
Contributed by Bill Faith
The webmaster's blog-within-a-blog. Continuously updated and bumped, newest items at the top.
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Destitute Dog -- Please read this and help if you can.
Ahmadinejad: man of "peace"
Michelle Malkin
***update...watch Ahmadinejad's bizarro show***
Headline covering Iran's man of peace and his speech to the U.N. tonight: Iran Tells U.N. Nuclear Program Peaceful
Ahmadinejad gets soft and fuzzy with NBC's Brian Williams: “Why is the U.S. government so against our people?” Ahmadinejad, speaking through a translator, asked in the interview with NBC News. “They speak of war so easily, as if it’s on their daily agenda. We never speak of war.”
Reality Check No. 1:
Not fit to print
Scott Johnson
A reader has kindly forwarded us the unpublished letter to the editor of the New York Times by Assistant Secretary of Defense Dorrance Smith. The letter addresses the New York Times editorial "A sudden sense of urgency" (behind the TimesSelect wall). The Times editorial was also published in the International Herald Tribune and is accessible here. Assistant Secretary Smith responded to the editorial as follows:
[...]
So much about the Times editorial is mistaken and misleading partisan garbage. Yet the Times's rhetorical indulgence regarding "real terrorists" is indeed a disgrace that is compounded by the Times's failure to print Assistant Secretary Smith's letter.
A low blow in Virginia
Paul Mirengoff
George Allen is one of the most successful politicians in the modern history of Virginia. In 1993, he overcame a 27 percentage point deficit in the polls to break the Democratic party's hold on the governorship (the Dems had won it three straight times). The popularity Allen earned as a hugely successful governor enabled him to defeat another giant of Virginia politics (though a faltering one) -- Chuck Robb -- in the 2000 Senate election. Allen has become such a prominent Senator that it seems hard to believe he's only just completing his first term.
To avoid a crushing defeat in 2006 (and perhaps to nip Allen's presidential aspirations in the bud) Virginia and national Democrats rallied around a widely respected ex-Republican, James Webb. Even so, Allen appeared to cruising to victory until he used an obscure but offensive word ("maccaca") to refer to a young Webb campaign aide. After that Allen seemed to go into free fall, to the point that some polls actually showed the Senate race to be even.
After a false start or two, Allen got his campaign back on track and, as of the last round of polls, appears to enjoy a fairly comfortable lead over Webb. Sensing that Allen might be vulnerable, however, the Webb campaign and its left-wing blogger friends have become increasingly weird and nasty. As Byron York notes, they took to referring to the Senator as George Felix Allen, Jr.
If that was the left jab, yesterday came the left hook. During a debate between the two candidates, one of the media questioners, a local tv news person named Peggy Fox, asked Allen: It has been reported that your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended? ...
George Allen: As a matter of fact, I am Jewish
Allahpundit
Just posted at Allen HQ: I was raised as a Christian and my mother was raised as a Christian. And I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbroso family line’s Jewish heritage, which I learned about from a recent magazine article and my mother confirmed…
... Expect plenty more filthy demagoguery from the left tomorrow on this, beginning with why Allen didn’t cop to his mother’s religious roots yesterday at the debate if he knew. Privacy, it seems, is a privilege reserved for Bill Clinton.
Personal to The Gray Dog: I know I owe you an email. Just got up from a nap, still groggy, gonna blog a little while I chug coffee and try to wake up.
Funny, She Doesn't Look Reporterish
One of the strangest moments in the recent history of political debates took place yesterday in Virginia, where former Reagan aide James Webb is challenging incumbent George Allen for the Senate. Instead of asking a question about issues that Senators will address in future sessions of Congress, a television reporter decided to ask Allen whether his mother has Jewish blood: ...
Bush Bounce?
John Hinderaker
The Gallup Poll is reporting a rebound in President Bush's approval rating, up to 44%. The poll was conducted September 15-17. On the other hand, Rasmussen Reports finds that the sharp increase in Bush's approval rating that was noted following the September 11 anniversary has now completely dissipated.
This seems odd to me. How can a bounce that obviously relates to a fundamental issue--national security--simply disappear after only a few days? One hypothesis is ...
Is Bush’s approval rating really trending upward?
Allahpundit
The new USA Today/Gallup poll is top of the page at Drudge. They’ve got Bush at 44% job approval; AP-Ipsos and Fox/Opinion Dynamics polls taken a few days earlier had him at 39 and 40, respectively. An upward trend? Probably not. Recall that Rasmussen had him at 47% last Thursday, a bounce I attributed to 9/11 memories and which I predicted would blow over. His Rasmussen numbers today? 40%, down from 41 the day before, down from 44 on September 16th, which lay smack dab in the middle of the sample window used by USA Today/Gallup. It was a bubble, and it’s likely already popped.
There are a number of items in the USAT/G poll that defy conventional wisdom, in fact. Check out this compilation of some of the more striking results. ...
Video:
Olbermann’s “special” comment demands apology from Bush
Left-wing darling Keith Olbermann went on one of his “special” attacks last night. The target: President Bush, of course. As usual, his screech got raving reviews from the OlbyLoons. Let’s just say if this was a Tom Jones concert and Olbermann was Jones and the left-wing blogs were fans in the audience, they would be throwing their underwear at him.
Olby is still pretending to be shocked and insulted that the President of the United States would dare say it is “unacceptable” to compare our country to those of Islamofascists. ...
War On Rome?
Muslim extremists continued to offer threats and violence in response to a speech by Pope Benedict XVI that warned against violent conversion. The Washington Times rounds up the most notable developments from thre previous day, in which Muslims around the world followed the Prophet Cartoon playbook almost to the letter:
Well, Who's Slapping Whom?
Ed Morrissey
I looked forward to E.J. Dionne's take on the latest outrage to spread through the Muslim world regarding the exercise of Western free speech and criticism, with both of us being Catholic but coming from different perspectives on the world. He weighs in today in a column that surprisingly blames Benedict for his rhetorical selections and blaming him for "slapping" Islam:...
Video: Bush addresses the UN ... Update: Bush toasts Kofi
One of his very best, I think, and as always, it’s even better on paper. The problem is, you have to suspend two levels of disbelief: first, that most Muslims will choose liberalism when given the choice, and second, that the Bush administration is capable of helping them make that choice and making it stick. Can’t say that I much believe either anymore.
Still, a nice speech. Highlights follow. ...
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: Nuclear terror “more likely than not”
Allahpundit
Seven minutes to midnight: [...]
There’s plenty at the link about the who, what, where, and how of it; the why we already know. Much of it’s old news, but this was new to me: ...
Taliban, Mark II
Bryan Preston
The Soviets left Afghanistan and eventually a gaggle of Islamic students filled the vacuum of power. They were called talibani, which is a derivation of the Arab word “talib” and means “students.” These schoolboys formed the harsh, Islamist movement that came to be known as the Taliban. So much for effective student government.
The Taliban today is mostly a hidebound, cave-dwelling movement attempting to take Afghanistan back into the dark ages our invasion took it out of in 2001 and 2002. But in Somalia, a new Taliban is born. ...
Spain Gets Realistic About Gibraltar
The Spanish government has lifted travel and communication restrictions on the 28,000 residents on the British enclave of Gibraltar, effectively retreating from its efforts to impose its sovereignty on the Rock: ...
French Retreat On Iranian Suspension
The French, who have remained surprisingly firm on the requirement for uranium-enrichment suspension until now, have retreated on it now. Jacques Chirac now says that Iran would not have to stop its enrichment program to get talks on an incentive package started, but could wait until talks were underway, and that's not even the retreat that matters: ...
When Human Rights Watch Calls You Anti-Israeli ...
In an embarrassing development for the United Nations, Human Rights Watch has issued a public scolding of Turtle Bay's Human Rights Council for its obsession for criticizing Israel. The successor of the Human Rights Commission has learned little from the failures of its predecessor, according to the international organization not exactly known for its Israeli sympathies: ...
- 15:07 (H/T Kerry Leight, x2)
McCain's dubious high ground
Rich Lowry
For people supposedly occupying the moral high ground, John McCain and his band of Republican rebels defying President Bush on the issue of interrogation have a strange attachment to confused argumentation.
They maintain that the United States can't define more precisely its obligations for the treatment of unlawful combatants under the vague language of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to allow the tough interrogations of terrorists, as Bush proposes, lest our troops in turn be tortured upon capture. McCain warns that such a definitional exercise risks "the lives of those Americans who risk everything to defend our country." What pleasant, alternate reality does the Arizona Republican inhabit? ...
Howard tells Aussie Muslims: Get over it
In case you didn’t know, Australia will be playing the fantasy role for conservatives in the next presidential election that Canada played for liberals in the last one.
He says it’s time to “move on”: Muslims are “perfectly entitled” to criticise the Pope for linking Islam with evil and violence, but John Howard wants them to “move on”.
Aussies refuse to submit
Michelle Malkin
I'm thinking of moving Down Under. Why? Because I love the vigorous, unapologetic response by Aussie government officials and Aussie Catholic clergy to Muslim Pope Rage compared to the silence or limpness of just about every other Western nation's response. Including ours. Bush's sparse, appeasing remarks--emphasizing the sincerity of the Pope's regret instead of the insane jihadi reaction--were lame. Just lame. ...
Voting Early and Often
Glenn Harlan Reynolds (H/T: John Werntz)
Can I call 'em, or can I call 'em? Nearly four years ago, I predicted charges of electoral fraud before the polls had even opened in the 2002 elections. I was right, and such charges have only grown louder as in recent elections.
It's easy to dismiss this as the grousing of losers, for the good reason that that's pretty much what it is. But although it's easy, fun -- and basically the right thing to do -- to heap scorn on the purveyors of silly conspiracy theories, we shouldn't stop there. One of the great risks of the modern world is that when a cause is propounded by loudmouthed fools, we tend to dismiss the cause as well as the fools.
But in fact, there are lots of reasons to worry about ballot security. Computers are inherently insecure, and electronic voting machines are basically computers. As this report illustrates (complete with video), Princeton researchers were able to hack a Diebold voting machine in short order. And get this summary of how it turned out: ...
Muslims will execute Christians
***updated with video*** ...
In Indonesia on Thursday--despite grave doubts raised over the fairness of the trial.
Catholic World News sums up:
Breeding terror in our prisons
There's a new study saying the same old thing about our failure to stop the spread of jihad in the US prison system: U.S. prisons are becoming major breeding grounds for Islamic terrorists, but state and local authorities are too cash-strapped to prevent or track recruiting, a new report concludes. ...
Tanks in Bangkok
Something's up. ...
Coup in Thailand, riots in Hungary
Allahpundit
Mary K’s following developments in Bangkok. Apparently tanks have blockaded government HQ and, per the latest Fox alert, soldiers are “confronting” police inside the building. Thailand’s PM was in NYC at the UN but he’s on his way home now after having declared a state of emergency. I’m so completely ignorant about Thai politics that I’m not even sure whether this is good or bad. Since military coups are almost always bad, I’m going to guess: bad. ...
Clinton sick of Rove’s “bullsh*t”
It’s the lies, I think. You know how he feels about lying.
He just wants people to tell the truth.
Reporter asks Allen: So, are you a Jew or what?
At a live, televised debate, no less. Which I guess was her way of saying, who’s the macaca now?
The Senator and attendees responded to the question appropriately, as you’ll see. Click the image for video at WaPo. ...
Fired radio host Mike Malloy “hacks” Air America website
He didn’t really hack in. It sounds like the morons just forgot to delete his username and password after they canned him … three weeks ago. Not only that, but they forgot to delete the page on the site devoted to his show.
So he logged in last night and left them a message. ...
Le Worm does it again
Bryan Preston
Only France could manage to lose a war in which it did not fight.
Just ahead of the big Iranapolooza at the UN, France announced that it no longer supports sanctions against the Islamic Republic and that there is in fact now a split on the Security Council on the question of whether Iran has to freeze its enrichment programs as a precondition to entering talks. This abrogates France’s previous support for sanctions, and gives the Russians and Chinese an out on sanctions both clearly were reluctant to support. Like its backdoor support for Iraq in the run-up to that war, France’s move combined with its veto power on the UNSC all but guarantees that either a) Iran gets nuclear weapons, or b) there will be a nasty war to make sure that Iran doesn’t get nuclear weapons.
Why did France suddenly switch sides on such a dangerous question? Besides just wanting to wreck another US effort to deal with extreme Islamism and the proliferation of WMDs, it comes down to cowardice. ...
Ready to rumble: Bush, Ahmadinejad to address UN
The president speaks at 11:30, Mike Wallace’s boyfriend goes on at 6:45. There was a slight chance they’d run into each other at the VIP luncheon, but Ahmadinejad’s decided not to attend. Why? Because they’re serving hard liquor.
You can watch the festivities live at the UN website. I’m sure we’ll have video highlights later.
MM, wisely, is keeping her expectations low. ...
Liberal hate and Oreo cookies 
Watch it. (H/T)
Just finished installing The GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program) on my machine. (Thank you Zero Ponsdorf for the tip.) Installation seemed to go OK, the program starts OK, now it's time to wade into the Help files. Did some reading online last night and supposedly The Gimp is capable of handling the right image types and dpi to produce CafePress-ready artwork. The Gray Dog has the ability to do that, and he's far from lazy, but he has a wife and a day job. This site, and now our new store, are "what I do." If I can create things for the store without help it will open a lot of possibilities. Here's hoping.
Border Fence Vote Upcoming
Ed Morrissey
Bill Frist posts that he will push for a vote this week on the border fence proposal currently under debate in the Senate. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 will authorize the construction of 700 miles in border barriers as well as higher-tech methods of security: One of the most important and most effective ways that we can stop illegal immigration is through the construction and proper maintenance of physical fences along the highest trafficked, most commonly violated sections of our border with Mexico.
[...]
I have predicted exactly this move several times since my interview with Frist, and the effort makes political sense. It will force the Senate to vote on an issue that many people see as critical to our national security , and the bill provides a common-sense solution to the chronically porous border in the American Southwest. Those who vote against it, and especially those who attempt to filibuster it, will have to answer why they insisted on linking national security to normalization for illegal immigrants. It also has the ability to fire up a dispirited conservative base and generate enthusiasm for midterm GOTV efforts.
It's a win-win, which is why I knew that Frist would never leave this on the shelf to gather dust. ...
Critical Mass
From FoxNews: Pope Says He's 'Deeply Sorry' for Reaction to Islam Speech. Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his recent remarks about Islam, which he said came from a text that did not reflect his personal opinion.
Despite the statement, protests and violence persisted across the Muslim world, with churches set ablaze in the West Bank and a hard-line Iranian cleric saying the pope was united with President Bush to "repeat the Crusades."
Boomer thinks you'll enjoy "Air Power." So do I. I did. Click the screen cap.
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